Team News
Rahlves X-12
Feb 26 2008
If you weren’t in Aspen or you didn’t tune into ESPN for the SkierX you missed some good action. As a competitor I felt it was the best skicross event I’ve competed in. Yeah winning the XGames helps, but that aside we had a 1min 26 sec track with all kinds of features, big airs and wide lanes to dice through the pack. There wasn’t just one or two spots to make a move and it wasn’t a starters race. Short courses, easy terrain or slow speeds suck. This track had it all and made you work for speed, but it was there for the taking. Passing in rollers, turns, flats and in the air was going down.
SkierX Finals. The snow, buffed clean after the Boarder X on Saturday and a clear night with cold temps gave us a killer fast track for Sunday.
Kicking it off, my first heat was stacked. Tomas Kraus, Enak Gavaggio, Lars Lewen, Jake Fiala, Audun Gronvold and me. Five of us from last years final. It was a wake up call from the first gate drop. Only three transfer to the next heat. I usually save my best boards for the last two heats, but this line up forced me to bring them out early.
No other choice, but to come out swinging.
Like usual I had a lame start and was 5th. This is going to have to change. But no need to panic. Watching the BoarderX I saw many opportunities to pass. Nate Holland put on a clinic from the back of the pack in each heat to come out with the gold. My ski tech Curtis Bacca from The Wax Room in Sun Valley, ID did Holland’s board so that was some extra confidence.
I worked my way up into the lead quickly. From there I put my head down and didn’t let up until the last jump. Crossing the line I only saw Kraus when we came to a stop. Carnage….I finally heard what happened. Fiala went down going for a pass on Lewen in the 2nd to last corner. Then Gavaggio trying to make a pass for 3rd on Lewen made ski contact off the second to last jump. Both missed the move off the kicker and went into orbit. They came down hard and exploded on impact. Damn that’s three of my friends bleeding, knocked out and broken. Never want to see that. It’s so much easier when you’re in the front. You stay out of trouble and get to ski your own line and plan. That’s the deal about skicross, but that’s what makes it exciting. If you’re behind you’ve got to be smart and work every angle to make a pass. Luck needs to be on your side as well. It’s more fun coming from the back of the pack taking the lead, but much more risky.
Next heat the semis. Some good guys were out, but that didn’t make it easy. It doesn’t matter who’s in your heat. Each round the intensity grows. Errol Kerr got into the lead and started pulling away. I was in 3rd and decided to save my fast line for the finals by not making a pass on 2nd. I pulled off to the option right jump to save that left side for the finals if I needed it. What happened was I got passed by Del Bosco and was sitting in 4th. Only top 3 make it to the finals. With not much more to the finish I was in a desperate position. I was rubbin elbows with him in the next turn and he shut me out. I lost speed getting pinched. I held my line squeeking every bit of speed out of the track and tried one last charge on Del Bosco. I scrubbed the 2nd to last hit and landed before him. That gave me a slight advantage for the last jump and I went for a left to right pass in the air. It worked and I took the last transfer spot by the skin of my teeth.
Close one, but in the show. I did a quick interview with Jamie Little then husseled back to the start. Handed Bacca my Atomics and he asked me something about the track. I told him what it was like and he went to work. Toshi Corbet (from Sponsorhouse who’s a good friend and takes care of my web site) was sending me good vibes and helping out with all the small stuff. Those little things matter, like handing me a Red Bull and holding onto my skis walking into the start. I was focused, fired up and ready to go. The gate dropped and it was on. All I have to say now is Gold at X and $30,000 in prize money made me happy.
If you want to see it again or for the first time go to www.daronrahlves.com[begin popup http://www.daronrahlves.com]Daron Rahlves web site [end popup] for the ESPN coverage of the SkierX Finals. The video is on my home page.
Thanks to Spyder, Atomic, Red Bull, Giro, Oakley, Sugar Bowl Resort and Swix.
Live to ski!
D
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